Susquehanna Dental Arts is one of a very few family dental practices in Central Pennsylvania that offers the SAFE removal of mercury. We use state-of-the-art machines that filter mercury out of the air as we remove old mercury (amalgam) fillings.

Dear Dr. Allison, I appreciate your work to safely remove all my mercury fillings. I have been observing changes in myself since then and have made the following observations: 1. My balance is much better. I can hold a yoga pose much longer and put on socks without leaning on something. 2. Small tremors in my hands which led me to give up jewelry making have disappeared. 3. I don’t know if it is related, but I have had the first improvement in my bone density test since I stopped using Fosamax 12 years ago.

Sharon Gardner Dover, PA

Mercury and Amalgam

Mercury is the most toxic, non-radioactive heavy metal on earth. Heavy metal toxins include lead, arsenic, and cadmium. Mercury is more hazardous than all of them. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that there is no safe level of mercury exposure. Silver-amalgam fillings are a mixture of many elements, but each is approximately 45% elemental mercury. It was once believed that the mercury in the mixture was stably bound to the other components and couldn’t escape. But numerous studies show that mercury is constantly released from amalgam as a breathable vapor.

Thankfully, there are affordable, effective, and cosmetically superior filling materials available to dentists today. If we know that there’s no safe level of mercury exposure, the continued use of mercury-amalgam doesn’t make sense. Safe amalgam removal, if applicable, is the first step in remedying this potential hazard. The second is substituting this dangerous filling material with an alternative which better serves your long term health. We can see to both steps at Susquehanna Dental Arts.

Mercury and Health

Mercury is a bio-accumulative toxin that concentrates in the body’s tissues over time. Small, steady doses bring about concentrations in the liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, and especially in the brain and nerve tissue. Mercury eventually binds with the sulfur groups of the body’s enzymes. Once present, mercury molecules prevent bound enzymes from forming the shapes needed to catalyze chemical processes. Since chemical reactions are involved in a great variety of bodily functions, mercury’s effects on health are incredibly varied. Non-lethal accumulations may not manifest severe symptoms but can cause a suite of subtle ailments and aggravate existing conditions. The immune system protects your body from invasion of viruses and foreign bacteria and if it’s constantly tied up trying to remove the heavy metal, it’s less able to address other invaders, leaving you potentially subject to harm. It’s apparent then that mercury fillings may particularly contribute to this unnatural imbalance in your body.

Some patients’ symptoms can baffle the physicians who try to help. In most cases the patient’s possible mercury load goes unaddressed. Heavy metal poisoning may not be the cause of an individual’s complaints, but it stands to reason that any possible sources of contamination should be removed. There’s no argument that mercury in any quantity is a potential hazard for the body, so while holding to this school of thought, we think it only logical for the health of our clients to consider amalgam or mercury removal. We feel that it’s an essential first line for defense for sustainable health.

Mercury and the Environment

Mercury contaminates food chains at every level. Through the process of bio-magnification, mercury concentrations in wildlife increase as the toxin moves up the food chain. Each animal absorbs the majority of the methylated mercury content of the plants or animals it feeds on. This is why the highest concentrations are found at the top of the chain, in large predators. Along the way mercury inevitably infiltrates human food sources. Mercury eaten by humans is particularly dangerous to children and fetuses. Government policy has greatly reduced the mercury discharge from U.S. industries. Unfortunately, contamination remains an issue and can originate from surprising sources. Dental practices operate under ordinances governing safe mercury handling. However, the measures needed to prevent mercury contamination of wastewater discharge are voluntary and poorly represented amongst dental offices.

Susquehanna Dental Arts is equipped with state-of- the-art mercury separators that remove at least 98% of mercury contaminants from our waste water. The mercury is prevented from contaminating our nearby river and the Chesapeake Bay. Considering nature’s balance in our practice as well as your body’s, we consciously invest in amalgam removal that’s both safe for you and our environment.